Lenora sighed lightly as she entered the aged bookshop. It had certainly been one of her favorites, visiting it every time she came to Diagon Alley to go shopping for school. There had simply been something about the ancient smell of books and the large collection of reading material that had drawn her in. She supposed not many people she knew really knew of her passion for reading, not that she declared it out loud. Being naturally outgoing, it was typically difficult for her to sit still long enough to read too long. Her eyes were constantly aware of her surroundings, anxious to meet new people whenever the chance arose. Today, she had just gotten off of work, thirsty for a bit of quiet reading before going home. For a long time, it seemed, she strolled up and down the shelves, looking for something to read. Finally settling on a book of Arithmancy. Really, she was rather quite useless at the subject, but she did enjoy reading up on some of the harder topics so that she would be able to help her older children for when they arrived.

Once she settled on a book, she made her way towards a small area of tables, seeing that it was actually quite full, not that there were even all that many tables. Seeing a table with a friendly looking witch, she supposed, and an empty seat, the redhead made her way over. “Hello?” she started, her smile widening once she caught the woman’s attention. “Hi,” she started again. “I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind if I joined you? If you mind, don’t feel obligated to say yes, of course. I was just curious, is all. I’m Lenora, by the way,” she rambled slightly, waiting for the woman to respond.

@alexandra

Alexandra had had a rare day off from work, she hadn’t even processed why she even requested one, and then the head healer had freely told her ‘yes, please take more than one day if you need to’. Did her supervisor think she worked too much as well, her parents were already in that frame of mind. Every time she had dinner with them, it was the same thing every time…..’Alex you’re young go have some fun please’. Sadly, the witch couldn’t remember the last time she had had any fun.

However after a spot of grocery shopping, Alex figured she would head into Flourish and Blotts for a quick visit to see if they had any books in on Transfiguration and if not then she would leave. Well that had been her plan, her flawed plan as per usual when it came to the book shop. Alex didn’t find any knew books on one of her favourite subjects but had found a book on cooking, well cakes specifically. She didn’t make cakes often; she was hardly around her flat long enough to do that.

She picked up the book and had taken a seat at one of the little tables in the shop to peruse it for a little while before she finally headed home. As she looked over a recipe for a sponge cake, she heard a voice address her. Looking up she saw a redheaded witch and smiled kindly. “Hello Lenora, I’m Alex and sure you can join me” she said gesturing to the vacant seat opposite her. She moved her things out of the way, giving Lenora some more space. “So a lover of numbers, are you?” she enquired catching sight of the book the other witch was holding.

Even though she had just gotten off of work, Lenora’s thoughts were still on her children, hoping that they were okay. Of course, she’d be going back again later that night, but she still worried when she was gone. Not that she hadn’t trusted her co-worker, she did…but she was just rather attached to her kids. She was even more attached, she supposed, to the children that were here that had lost their families due to the reign of Voldemort, whether they died or they were punished as Death Eaters. To her, she had to be extra intentional to ensure that they knew they were their own persons and that they were loved.

“Really? Thanks! I really appreciate it. Nice to meet you Alex,” Lenora smiled widely, taking the seat while she opened the newly retrieved book. “Lover of numbers?” the redhead inquired, slightly confused, before he eyes looked at her own book. “Oh! Oh, nope, not even in the slightest. I like to keep up with the times,” she grinned. “Well, really, I like to try to act like I know what I’m doing when I’m helping the kids with their work,” Lenora replied honestly, shrugging slightly. “And cooking for you? Or do you prefer baking?”

What had even prompted her to pick up this book and then to actually pay attention to this recipe was beyond her, but she supposed she could try it out for her mum or dad’s next birthday. Actually they might appreciate a cake baked by someone else for a change instead of by themselves for their own birthday. Speaking of birthdays, her older brother’s wife was due soon, she was going to be an Aunty any day now. That was about as exciting as her life got at the moment, well there was also with seeing Ryder again, why was it strange that she smiled every time she thought of him now and why did she think of him more often nowadays……especially after not seeing him for seven years.


Alexandra zoned back in on giving her attention to Lenora. “No problems” she laughed lightly as the redhead took her seat. Did Lenora not realise what book she was reading? Alex asked herself, a little confused. Once the other woman explained, Alex nodded in her head as she understood. Children? She looked too young to have her own  children that would be into Arithmancy already, Alex could tell she was younger than her. “I’m sorry,  children?” she asked puzzled, she needed to understand what Lenora meant by ‘kids’. “I’m rarely at home, normally I’m working at St Mungo’s but I do prefer cooking over baking, thought I might try my hand at it soon” she shrugged smiling.

Lenora’s smile widened as the woman inquired further about her kids. Talking about the kids at the home was her favorite thing to discuss….well, with as much information as she was allowed to give, anyways. Sometimes, it was difficult to work with her kids, especially when many of them still held the belief that they were unloved and unwanted, no matter how much they tried to prove that mindset wrong at the home. “My kids,” she nodded in agreement. “I work at the Safe Harbour Orphanage…that large, daunting building,” the redhead explained. “School will be out soon which means the older kids will be coming back…which means I need to pick up my game for when I have to force them to do a bit of studying,” she laughed lightly.

“St. Mungo’s? What do you do there?” Lenora asked curiously, knowing that there was quite the vast amount of job opportunities at the large building. “I’m a horrid mess in the kitchen, much to my mother’s disappointment. I can cook basic stuff, if needed, but other than that, sandwiches work wonders,” she laughed, shaking her head lightly.

As the other woman started speaking and explaining what she meant by ‘her kids’ Alexandra closed the cookbook she had been reading to give Lenora her complete attention. When she explained she worked at Safe Harbour, Alex broke into a smile, she loved that the other woman called them her kids even though they weren’t biologically related. Frankly she didn’t see anything wrong with it. Alex had treated some of the kids from the Orphanage in the past, usually when accidental magic went astray. “That certainly sounds like a rewarding role, you must enjoy it” that was very evident in the tone that Lenora used. “I wish you all the luck in trying to get the kids to study” Alex chuckled, knowing even during her time at Hogwarts she did prefer to be outside during the summer, well some days anyway.

“Yes I work in that other daunting building as a healer” she smiled at Lenora. However when she was inside said building, she never found it ‘daunting’, Alex was always in her element whenever she worked. Even if running into Ryder had thrown her off, a little.     “Where my mother is concerned, I think she accepts my limited culinary skills, what she doesn’t agree with is how little time I do spend at my flat” she laughed but Alex had vowed to herself that she would change that.

The redhead felt a pang of guilt as the other woman closed her book. “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to be rude and interrupt you while you’re reading. Don’t mind me,” she explained, smiling sheepishly. Lenora knew that she could be a talker, always finding meeting new people to be so fascinating. “Oh, I absolutely love my position. Never a dull moment with those faces,” Lenora smiled fondly, proud that she had managed to catch the open position. She had volunteered during her summers before finally applying to take the open position, retrieving it.

“Yeah, getting them to study during the summer is always challenging. But we use the good old bribery method,” she laughed, shaking her head lightly. There was nothing a good bribe couldn’t do when trying to convince children, especially teenagers, to do something favorable. She supposed some people didn’t agree with this, but it was what the center had found worked the best. “A healer? Oh, you must have seen some of our kids coming your way, then,” she smiled. “Not spending time at your flat? Working all of the time or are you just always out?” the redhead asked curiously, as if she were already talking to an old friend.

The witch shook her head and waved off Lenora’s apology, it was unnecessary, she would much rather talk to someone than to read cake recipes. She could always buy a cake if needed. It would taste ten times better than anything she would ever make herself. “No it’s completely fine, that’s what bakeries are for” she said with a light laugh. She wasn’t even coming into Floruish today expecting to buy a book, let alone a book on baking. Alex watched with great admiration as Lenora’s face lit up as she spoke about her role at Safe Harbour, it really did appear like she loved what she did just as much as Alex loved being a Healer. “If you don’t’ mind me asking what made you want to work there?” She asked carefully, trying not to pry too much. After all she had just met the woman.

 Alex smirked as Lenora brought up the ‘bribery method’. “I see, I use that method when I have little kids as patients to get them to take their potions” she informed the other woman. “ What do you bribe the kids with?” she asked curiously. She imagined that parents often did that with their own kids, usually promising some kind of treat or outing once homework was completed. “I have treated some of the children from there yes” she confirmed with a kind smile. “Sadly it’s option A, I spend too much time working and no time at home, well I go home to sleep, sometimes” she told Lenora honestly. Of course she would always try to sneak in a nap in a break room if she had to.

Every day was always a good day for making friends. Who didn’t want to be friendly with people? It was something that Lenora really couldn’t understand as she seemed to love nearly everyone she came in contact with. People had different viewpoints and reacted to situations differently. Clearly, everyone had different personalities but to Lenora, learning how to best connect with each individual was always a fun and exciting challenge. It meant that every relationship she had was going to be different from the next. And really, she thought this was a healthy challenge. People really should try harder at getting along with people. If people were more understanding of everyone’s difference, she supposed the world wouldn’t be having nearly as many problems.

Lenora laughed at the woman’s response, amused. “Can’t send me to a bakery alone. I’ll definitely come out with my pockets empty and my stomach more full than it should be,” the redhead laughed. “Hmm,” Lenora started, taking a brief moment to collect her thoughts. “I come from quite a large family and I just…love them all. I’m the oldest of eight and I was always taught about the importance of family. So for me, I wanted everyone to feel that they could have a family…even if they were orphans, or abandoned, or felt like they didn’t have a place that they could call home,” Lenora explained, love shining through her eyes. She wasn’t certain she would ever be able to leave the home, loving her work more than nearly everything. “Hmm, well we’ll bribe them with the old and true method of receiving money…or with getting their favorite meal at dinner or taking them out somewhere. Quite a few of them really like Quidditch, go figure,” she smiled. “And you? What methods do you use?”

Lenora nodded in empathy towards the woman about her sleeping habits. “What made you want to be a healer?”

It wasn’t that Alexandra was taken aback by Lenora’s friendly nature, she just wasn’t used it, outside of work that is. Occasionally she would have a patient that would love to chat and would pretty chat all day long. So the rate at which the other witch was speaking was no big deal. She was very happy to listen to the redhead speak since she herself wasn’t a big talker. She did speak only when she saw fit, however the other week when she ran into her old friend it had been an entirely different story. However she couldn’t fathom why that was. Maybe she had just felt really comfortable around the bloke. Which she supposed now wasn’t a bad thing, just new. Freeing this thoughts from her mind, she refocused on what Lenora was saying.

Alex laughed lightly and nodded her head at the mention of empty pockets and a full stomach from the redhead. “That would be the same for me too, however I usually eat on the go, which really isn’t healthy if you think about it” she shrugged with a ‘do what you have to do’ expression on her face. She sat and listened intently as the other girl spoke of reasons for working at the Orphanage and the healer could tell very easily that Lenora had the same passion for her job as Alex had for hers. It was nice to see that others out there were passionate about their work too. “Wow the oldest of eight, we are just the four of us and I’m the second oldest. But I can clearly see you love what you do and it is very admirable” she smiled at the woman. Anyone who had that much determination to make every child welcome had to be admired or so Alex thought they should. A smirk crept onto Alex’s features as Lenora started explaining what bribery methods they used at the home. It was as she suspected, food and an outing were always a winner and what child or teenager didn’t like money? “We use food too, but it’s either something like a cake from the tearoom or some sweets from Sugarplums. And Quidditch, well we can’t take them to a game or anything but if we happen to have a Quidditch player in the hospital, because let’s face it they get injured very often, we have them stop by the child’s room for a visit” she said, it wasn’t much but the smile on the child’s face when their favourite chaser walked into their room was unmatchable.

“When I was younger my magic was the strongest of all the children, my parents thought so at least and to be a healer your magic has to be strong, so there is that but also because I wanted to give back after the war. Not that I had anyone directly affected by it” she explained, leaving out the part of her mother being a pureblood and her not knowing that side of the family very well.